Elevating Women Worldwide

This space is dedicated to empowering women in combining passion and purpose in the cannabis industry. Here you will find free cannabis business resources, tips, and tools to help you bring your vision to reality.

A global community of cannabis women – we seek to inspire, empower, and support one another in our entrepreneurial journeys.

Rachel's Journey

Cannabis has influenced my life physically, mentally, and spiritually. This plant inspires me on so many levels.

I would not be who I am today without cannabis.

But I never imagined it would become my career.

Yet, life has a way of bringing us the experiences we need to push us in the direction we're meant to go.

Let me explain:

In spring of 2015, I found myself at a major turning point. The startup I was working at was going downhill fast. Meanwhile, I was overworked and underpaid, even donating plasma just to make ends meet. To top it off, one bad event kept happening after the next. Things had reached a new low.

I didn't know what direction to go...

So I complained, indulged in bad habits and held onto toxic relationships out of fear. And believe me, when I say, I reaped what I sowed. More negativity seemed to follow wherever I went.

From the outside looking in, perhaps it was understandable.

By the age of 14, one of my parents had been incarcerated and the other had passed away. Not easy things for any young person to process. It undoubtedly influenced my worldview.

Yet, what was I doing to work through this?

More importantly, how could I use these experiences for good?

It took everything going wrong to realize how I could start making things right. Because up until this point, I was taking the back seat in my life. Instead of doing the self-work I needed to grow, I was filling the void with distractions.

But the choice was mine.

Cannabis alongside meditation helped me reclaim my personal power and urged me to revaluate what I truly wanted out of my life.

It was the spark that led me to eventually make some drastic changes, from changing careers to countries.

In fact, I left the security of my fulltime startup job to pursue my ultimate dream, writing and working remotely. I was 22 with student loans to cover, bills to pay, and less than $700 to my name.

By all accounts, the decision to leave was crazy. Yet a strong sense of intuition reminded me I was on the right path.

I hit the ground running.

Like most new freelancers, I took any job I could find. I was just thankful for the opportunity. Truthfully, I was still shocked people were sending me money on the Internet.

Getting high and writing was the ultimate dream!

But after a few months, it became apparent this wasn’t going to be sustainable long-term. I was totally burned out and falling behind on bills.

Something had to change fast!

A combination of cannabis, meditation, and lots of Google searches later – the answer finally came to me. I needed to find a niche.

I was so eager to work online and start writing; I hadn’t given much thought as to what I wanted to write about.

In fact, I was taking on almost every job under the sun. But it didn’t feel like I was making any progress. While the Gemini in me appreciated variety, I was stretching myself too thin.

No one wanted to hire a writer; they wanted to hire the right writer.

Trying to be everything to everyone was more harmful than helpful. If I concentrated my efforts towards a specific niche - I could deepen my knowledge, provide more value, and command a higher rate in the marketplace.

As fate would have it, I’m coming to this realization and see an ad online for a cannabis writer. Talk about dream job! I immediately applied. Turns out, I didn’t get the gig. But it didn’t matter.

It was the spark that made the connection.

I ended up writing for publications like Green Flower Media, Herb, United Patients Group, and working with cannabis companies from Anaheim to Amsterdam.

Having a strong background in online marketing, though, I was eager to apply my knowledge. Writing and researching cannabis had opened my eyes to the incredible potential of this plant along with the injustices surrounding it. I wanted to find a meaningful way to use my strengths to make a real impact.

The only question was how?

As I got more involved, I noticed the representation of women cannabis entrepreneurs was being vastly underserved. Women were often hyper-sexualized for profit or put on the backburner. On top of this, cannabis businesses were also facing major advertising restrictions online, making it extremely difficult for bootstrapped entrepreneurs to gain traction.

I realized passion and purpose could align to serve a real need in this industry.

Why not create an online space dedicated to empowering women entrepreneurs in the cannabis industry?

Women could have a place to share their stories, promote their businesses, access online education, be inspired and connect on a global scale.

I had no idea how it was going to happen but every fiber of my being was screaming – YES! YES! YES!

There was no turning back now. I knew that if I put in the work and trusted the process, I would be led to the right information, resources, and people to make it happen.

Four months later….

On June 16, 2016 (backed on 100% my freelance income) Women of Cannabiz was live.

Two years later, this community has grown beyond my wildest dreams.

I am continually humbled and inspired by the impact Women of Cannabiz has had on my life and thousands of women around the world.

Today we have an incredible opportunity to influence history, build amazing businesses, and create a new kind of an industry. An industry that promotes equality, supports sustainability, and values humans lives over bottom lines.

I believe women are leading the way.

Each and every one us have a story to share.

Challenges we’ve overcome, hardships we’ve faced, and lessons we’ve learned. By stepping forward and speaking our truths, we’re stopping the stigma one story at a time. We’re also inspiring and empowering one another in the process.

I’m so grateful to be on this journey with you.

Together we are learning, growing, and evolving as we navigate these unchartered terrains. It’s not easy out there but we know why we're here.